Ghost Festival

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Ghost Festival
HK ShatinYuLanFestival KingOfGhost.JPG
A paper effigy of the Ghost King in Shatin, Hong Kong
Official name
Also calledSpirit Festival
Observed by
SignificanceTo commemorate the opening of the gates of Hell and Heaven, permitting all ghosts to receive food and drink
Observances Ancestor worship, offering food, burning joss paper, chanting of scriptures
Date15th day of the 7th lunar month
2023 date30 August
2024 date18 August
2025 date6 September
2026 date27 August
Related to
  1. Chow, page 4, quoting 1783 Qianlong era "Annals of Guishan County" (歸善縣志) Scroll 15 - Customs:
    '鬼節原是農曆七月十五,但元末明初之際,有言客家為了躲避元兵,提前一日過節,以便南下走難,自此鬼節就變成七月十四,流傳至今。'
    English translation:
    'The Ghost Festival originally was on the 15th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar, but during the late Yuan to early Ming period, it's said that the Hakkas in order to escape the Yuan troops, celebrated the Ghost Festival one day earlier, in order to escape disaster they fled southward. Since that time and continuing today, the date of the Ghost Festival changed to the 14th day of the 7th [lunar] month' [in parts of Southern China].
  2. Karashima:
    On p. 302 'Although this sutra has often been regarded as apocryphal [Japanese version has in recent times], the contents and ideas in it are well rooted in India as we have seen above. In addition to that, the vocabulary and usage of Chinese words are more archaic, compared with Kumārajīva's corpus (401-413 CE), while they resemble greatly the translations by Dharmarakṣa (fl. 265?-311 CE). Moreover, the transliteration 鉢和羅 (EH pat γwa la > MC pwât γwâ lâ} of Skt. pravāra (ṇā), which only occurs in this sutra and its adaptation, i.e. the Baoen Fengpen jing報恩奉盆經 (T. 16, no. 686, 780a20), indicates clearly that this sutra is not apocryphal but a genuine translation, because only somebody who knew the original Indian form was able to transliterate it thus correctly into Chinese. In conclusion, I assume that [<-preceding 3 words missing in Japanese version] this sutra is not apocryphal, but a translation from an Indian text translated by Dharmarakṣa or somebody else in pre-Kumārajīva times [Japanese version has 3rd to 4th century CE]. [c.f. p 189 for equivalent in Japanese version]
    c.f. p 301 for derivation of Yulan from Middle Indic (Gandhari) *olana.
  3. Karashima:
    '東アジアの盂蘭盆と東南アジアのワン・オ一クパンサーなどは、いずれも、釈尊の時代に規定された様に七月十五日の自恣の日を祝っているのだが(日本ではこのことはすでに意識されていない)、東南アジアでは古代インドの暦に基づいて行われるのに対し、東アジアでは、中国の太陰暦に従っているので、ニケ月の差があり、これらが同一の行事ということに気付く人は少ない。'
    English Translation:
    'Both the East Asian Urabon [Yulanpen] and Southeast Asian Wan Ok Phansa [Thai name for Pravāraṇā] are celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month, the day of Pravāraṇā just as it was promulgated in Lord Buddha's time (in Japan, this matter is not known to people). In Southeast Asian countries, they use the ancient Indian calendar [or Buddhist calendar] as opposed to East Asian countries where they use the Chinese calendar. As there is a two month difference between the two calendars, few people realized that the two are [in fact] the same event.'
  4. Karashima:
    Pravāraṇā (Pāli Pavāraṇā) zizi 自恣 and suiyi 隨意 in Chinese, is a ceremony held at the end of the three-month rainy season retreat [also called vassa] by Buddhist monks. In Theravada Buddhism and in Nepal, it was and is still held on the full moon day of the seventh or eight month. i.e. Āśvina (September–October) or Kārttika (October–November) respectively.
  5. Karashima:
    '對佛教徒來說,自古印度年曆(元旦相當於公曆三月中至四月中)四月十五日(公曆六至七月)或五月十五日(公曆七至八月)開始的三個月是雨安居。直至今天,西藏、尼泊爾、東南亞地區的僧人依然在此期間行雨安居。這一習俗也傳到沒有雨季的中國大陸中原地域,年曆和數字被原封不動地保留下來,但由印度年曆變為中國太陰曆。在中國、日本、朝鮮半島等東亞地區,雨安居從陰曆四月(公曆五月)開始,持續三個月。'
    English Translation: 'From the Buddhist viewpoint, based on the Ancient Indian calendar [or Buddhist calendar] (New Years is in the middle of March to the middle of April [in the Gregorian calendar]) the 15th day of the fourth month [Āṣāḍha] (June to July [in the Gregorian calendar]) or the 15th day of the fifth month [Śrāvaṇa] (July to August [in Gregorian calendar]) is the start of three month period called vassa. From ancient times to even today, the monastic community of Tibet, Nepal and Southeast Asia still follow this schedule to observe vassa. This custom was also transmitted to China which does not have a rainy season, the calendar and dates preserved unchanged from the original but instead of using the ancient Indian calendar, the lunar Chinese calendar is used. In China, Japan, the Korean peninsula and other East Asian regions, vassa starts on the fourth month of the lunar Chinese calendar (May (in the Gregorian calendar) and lasts 3 months.' [n.b. Since the start of vassa is fixed in East Asia in the fourth month, Pravāraṇā is also fixed to the 15th day of the seventh month].

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Stephen F. Teiser is the D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion at Princeton University, where he is also the Director of the Program in East Asian Studies. His scholarship is known for a broad conception of Buddhist thinking and practice, showing the interactions between Buddhism in India, China, Korea and Japan, especially in the medieval period; for the use of wide-ranging sources, not only texts and documents, but artistic and material; for a theoretical approach that builds insights from history, anthropology, literary theory, and religious studies; and for seeing Buddhism in both elite and popular contexts.

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General and cited bibliography

Ghost Festival
Ancestor worship003.JPG
Food offerings for the Ghost Festival